Pakistan ISI - The Secret Government

Pakistan ISI - The Secret Government
Broadcast: 07/11/2001
Reporter: Mark Corcoran
FINAL STORY SERIES 11 EPISODE 18
Transcript
Mark Corcoran investigates Pakistan's feared Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISI), a maker and breaker of governments. As the Americans and their allies venture further into the quagmire of Afghanistan, they are dependant on the ISI to be their "eyes and ears" on the ground. The only problem is the ISI was until September 11, the Taliban's closest ally - in fact the agency was instrumental in bringing the Talib's to power. While General Musharraf has signed up on the side of the US, the ISI has other ideas. Already Musharraf has sacked his ISI boss for encouraging the Taliban to resist the U.S. Former PM Benazir Bhutto tells Mark the ISI is "a state within a state", and blames it for her own political demise. According to experts, the ISI has a track record of political assassination, state-sponsored terrorism, and drug running. It is an all-powerful agency that won't yield power without a fight.